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Mashudu Mambo
BULAWAYO Progressive Residents Association (BPRA) is empowering youths in different wards through selecting youth representatives to promote developments in the 29 wards.
BPRA programmes manager, Claude Phuthi said their goal was to ensure that youths are empowered and given opportunities.“As an organisation, we are structured in a way that every ward has two representatives and we ensure that amongst the representatives we have youths.
This is because we want to ensure that their views are heard. This has seen the rise and developments of a number of youth centres in the city that provide training and different workshops for the youth,” he said. Phuthi stated that they provide coaching services for youths who are applying for formal employment.
“We offer coaching services for youths who are applying for employment and this is after the realisation that a number of them are not well versed with the essential elements needed in a curriculum vitae and an application letter,” he said. He indicated that they also avail employment opportunities to youths and mobilise them for different programmes.
“In the recent nursing applications, we mobilised a number of youths from the Matabeleland region and our operations are not only limited to Bulawayo, we also help youths in different rural areas.“There are times when we have projects that need graphic designers or documentaries that need qualified photographers, we do not outsource people from different areas but we avail these opportunities to the youths in the city.
“This has helped a number of youths as they have managed to grow their market base due to different referrals that we give to our partners in different cities,” said Phuti. Phuthi highlighted that they have a new funeral cover that is tailor-made for the youths.
“We have a funeral cover that is tailor-made for our youths and this cover is affordable and suitable for youths who are heads of households. It was designed to ensure that all youths can give their loved ones’ decent funerals,” he said.
derick.khumalo